Deep Sea ID v1.2

Deep Sea ID v1.2 is a unique visual identification guide to deep-sea species available as an app for iOS (download) and Android (download) devices.

The app is a field guide interface to the World Register of Deep-Sea Species (WoRDSS) that currently stores on your device (for offline access) the taxonomic information for over 25,000 deep-sea species, over 580 high-resolution photographs of deep-sea species as well as links to online taxonomic tools, sources and important references.

The app is designed to improve access to taxonomic information for researchers and contractors working at sea, in the field or in the laboratory as well as educators and science communicators who wish to learn more about the remarkable diversity of deep-sea life.

The app will be updated on a regular basis with the addition of new species, images and taxonomic resources from WoRDSS. Please consider contributing to the WoRDSS project.

How to Cite

Tips on Navigating the Data

There are three main ways of navigating the large dataset included in this app:

By browsing the taxonomic Tree. Tapping on a taxon name takes you to the children of that taxon. A button on the top left takes you back. At the bottom left, the Path button shows you where you are in the entire tree, and you can jump backwards to the level you want. Tapping the image or image placeholder takes you to the Detail page for that taxon, this can also be accessed by the button on the top right.

By searching. The button on the bottom right takes you to the Search page. Here you can scroll through the entire list (over 25,000 taxa) and arrange it alphabetically by taxon name, species epithet (e.g if you want to find all species for which the species epithet is abyssorum) or English common name. You can also limit this to just species level or include all taxa. Entering text into the text box immediately searches the currently-displayed list.

By browsing in Slideshow mode. At any point during the browsing of the taxonomic tree, you can press the Slideshow button (a camera icon) and you will see images of taxa within the group you navigated too. For example, if you are on the landing page, the slideshow mode will show images of all Animalia. If you are in Pisces (fish) you will see just the fish. You can go forward or back in Slideshow mode by swiping or using the buttons to advance or play a timed slideshow. Tapping an image during a running slideshow will take you back to the Slideshow control. Tapping an image in Slideshow (control mode) takes you to the Details page for that species. You can then go back to the slideshow or break out back to the taxonomic tree.

Tip: if you are trying to identify a species (e.g in an ROV control room), browse to the highest taxon you think it might be (e.g fish), and go to Slideshow mode. Swipe through images until you see something similar to your organism. Tap on the picture to see details. Tap on Path to see where you are in the taxonomic classification. Tap at any level in the path to jump to a higher level (e.g a family). Tap on slideshow to see all the images in that family.